Top Five List

Top Five List

1.    The district budget must be prepared by a date set by the state board of education, currently August 20 (June 19 if the district uses a June 30 fiscal year end.

2.6.1 Statement of Texas Law

 

2.    The budget must be legally adopted before the adoption of the tax rate. 

2.6.1 Statement of Texas Law

 

3.    The budget must be adopted by the board of trustees, inclusive of amendments, inclusive of amendments, no later than August 31 (June 30 if the district uses a June 30 fiscal year end).

3.6.2     TEA Legal Requirements

 

4.    Two critical dates for budget preparation have been mandated by TEA. These dates (as noted in the previous section, Legal Requirements for Budgets) are:

August 20th – for August 31 fiscal year end

June 19th -- for June 30 fiscal year end

The budget must be prepared by these dates in order to meet the publication requirement of 10 days public notice in a newspaper for the public notice of budget adoption.

2.7.2.2 Preparation of the Budget Calendar

 

5.    As budgeted funds are expended, periodic monitoring of the budget should be conducted in accordance with responsibility accounting.

2.10.4 Monitoring the Budget

 

These are all crucial elements to completing the budget according to Texas law. 

 

Goal Driven Budget

A goal driven budget is a budget that is carefully decided based on many stakeholders and initiatives for the school district.  A goal driven budget is an alignment of the Board of Trustee goals with the district improvement and campus improvement plans so that the end product is successful implementation of the district goals.  Dr. Arterbury describes the purpose of a goal driven budget as assisting in the attainment of a shared vision for the school district and every campus.  He also states, “Every district and campus has a goal driven budget in the sense that effectively teaching math is a common goal and we expend funds for teachers and materials to address the teaching/learning process for math. However, we would like to encourage you to think about the budgeting process as part of the total planning process of the school district (Arterbury).”  Every school district should create a budget with goals in mind.  The school board, superintendent, district wide campus improvement committee, and many others are stakeholders in such a task.  As both the district and campus level improvement plans are made, they should reflect the goals and mission of the school board.  Dr. Arterbury explains, “The district and campus goals should reflect the Board goals and the budgeting process should reflect a commitment to expending funds to achieve those goals. That would result in a goal driven budget (Arterbury).”

A goal driven budget not only requires many stakeholders, but it also requires efficient communication.  The superintendent is the leader of the budget planning process with the school board members, as well as with the campus principals. 

In the HISD district improvement plan, the budget does not seem to correlate with the goals with ease.  For example, in the goals regarding hiring and retaining highly qualified staff, the only mention of the budget or finances is in the description as how a purchase order will be the documentation for the payment of the walk through software that each campus principal uses for teacher observation data.  One goal of the district improvement plan is to keep the budget balanced in light of the reduced funding by the state of Texas.  This section simply takes on the task of allotting monies that are available in a frugal and meaningful manner.  However, there is no specific goal or vision for these funds.

 

Reference

Arterbury, Elvis. "Week Two Video Lecture." EDLD 5342 School Finance. Lamar University. Beaumont. 04 Sep 2012. Lecture.

Superintendent Interview (Budgeting)

I learned several items of interest in interviewing Dr. Eric Wright, Superintendent for Huntington ISD.  His first statement about the budgeting process was that it is the most important thing that he does.  He stated that it is also an area that needs your undivided attention to detail.  Dr. Wright said that nothing is overlooked, adjusted or agreed on without his approval.  He was clear that he was very hands-on in the process, and wanted to know all aspects before finalizing the budget.  He gets together with our Business Manager and a contracted consultant to analyze data and trends that will affect the budgeting process.  They look at student to teacher ratios, property values, and five year attendance averages.  He said that regardless of the averages on attendance rates, that they are always conservative on their projections.  In doing this, it keeps our district from having to make a payment to the state for over-projecting.  Dr. Wright said that some districts do over-project, so that they receive more money at the beginning of the year.  He is not a fan of this approach because we are a property poor district, and could not afford having to make payments to the state for over-projecting.

After visiting with Dr. Wright for over an hour, I was overwhelmed.  I felt unprepared to walk into a superintendent position and manage the finances like Dr. Wright.  He assured me that he felt the same way when he took over as superintendent in Woodville.  There are many aspects of the job concerning the budget that can be learned, but nothing beats actual hands-on experience.  He told me that once you get involved in the process, it becomes much easier.  Once again though, he reiterated the importance of always being involved in all phases of the budgeting process.  He stressed the importance of relying on information from different sources, but to go through the final product meticulously. 
 

It is important to involve all stakeholders in the budgeting process.  From the top, to the bottom, all parties will be affected by the decisions of the budget.  All principals and directors meet with the business manager in early spring, and discuss the budget.  They discuss concerns, and needs that have been addressed within their departments, on their campuses, and with their committees.  On our campus, any needs that have been addressed through our SBDMC, are discussed in this meeting as well.  So it is left up to the principals and directors to provide information to the business manager for their departments and campuses.  Once this information has been accumulated, then our business manager and superintendent meet to discuss the items that need attention.  At anytime, if there are any stakeholders that need to meet with the superintendent concerning the budget, they can.  Discussions with the board are also important to see if there are any needs that have brought to their attention.  Once all of the information regarding the budget from the different stakeholders has been accumulated, then our superintendent and business manager compile the data and finalize the budget for board approval.

TEA Budgeting Guidelines

TEA Budgeting Guidelines

The budget process for a Texas public school is quite tedious with multiple steps.  However, the TEA Budgeting Guidelines suggest an organized manner in which to adhere to the rules for developing a budget.  “The budgeting process is comprised of three major phases: planning, preparation and evaluation. The budgetary process begins with sound planning. Planning defines the goals and objectives of campuses and the school district and develops programs to attain those goals and objectives (Texas Education Agency).”  The three main ideas behind planning, preparation and evaluation are essential to developing a goal driven and proper budget.

Budgeting as a process has changed in the last several decades for public schools in the United States.  Currently there are five main ideas as to how budgets should be used by school districts, “(1) Line-item or “traditional” budgeting, (2) Performance budgeting, (3) Program and Planning, “programming” budgeting (PPB), (4) Zero-base budgeting (ZBB) and (5) Site-based budgeting (Texas Education Agency).”  Many school districts use a variety of these types to make a complete budget. 

The legalities associated with a school district are set by the Texas Education Agency, the State of Texas, and the local school district.  Federal grants can also indicate how a budget needs to be composed depending on the types of federal monies being used. 

All of the above information will be extremely helpful in knowing where to turn for guidance as a superintendent in developing a budget.  The guidelines for planning and preparing the budget are helpful, as well as the guidelines for evaluating the budget upon implementation.  Also, being aware of the different types of items that can be used o develop the budget will be extremely beneficial to a new superintendent.  Reading through the TEA Budgeting Guidelines was indeed helpful and a great source of reference for any superintendent.

 

Reference

Texas Education Agency. Texas Education Agency Financial Accountability System Resource

Guide. Austin: January, 2010.